Prospective Charter School To Meet With BTSD

The co-founders of a prospective charter school will meet with members of the Bristol Township School District early next month to determine the fate of a proposed academy.

It was announced at Monday night's school board meeting that James Jones and Rev. Melvin Howard, co-founders of the Excel Academy Charter School, will have a formal hearing on September 12 over whether they will receive a public charter for the academy.

If approved, the Excel Academy will be the first public charter school in Bristol Township.

The charter school, which claims to "enhance, support and promote entrepreneurial and critical thinking skills," is currently looking to settled down in the building of former Catholic elementary school, Immaculate Conception, on Emilie Road in Levittown.

Immaculate Conception was closed down one year ago when the Archdioceses of Philadelphia consolidated its school system. Currently, the school, which is attached to a still active parish, sits vacant. 

The Excel Academy's founders said the church will be uneffective if the deal goes through.

Jones and Howard believe that if their proposal gets approved, they will be able to start operating the school as early as October 2011, starting with grades Kindergarten through 4th.

Founder said Excel Academy offers a heavy focus on business-minded education, whereas they say Bristol Township schools do not. Officials said they believe this focus will help curb what they see as a downward trend in the current education system.

"We (the township) are spending a lot of money, billions of dollars, and we aren't see our children succeeding beyond high school. What we are offering is simply a new vehicle (to education)," Howard said. 

The school is currently planned to be resemble a working office space. Howard suggested that when completed, students in some classes may even be doing their classwork in cubicles, to help acclimate them to a corporate business environment.

"The problem is that we are not teaching our children how to think for themselves, (Excel Academy) is trying to get them to start think," said Richard Rook, a partner in the Excel Academy charter school.

Legislation that allowed public charter schools was passed by Pennsylvania state senate in 1997. According to the PA Department of Education, a qualified charter school that is approved receives a five-year educational charter. If they fail to continue to meet minimum criteria, that charter can be revoked when it is up for renewal. Approval of the charter school falls upon the school district that it will reside in.

To the co-founders of Excel Academy, the charter school system provides a more accountable and what they said is a cheaper alternative to public education.

"The best thing about a charter school is if you don't preform, you're defunct," Jones said.

While Jones, Howard and Rook said they believe their charter school will benefit the community, not all residents agree.

"Our schools are already teaching critical thinking skills, math and sciences. I haven't heard anything yet that's better than what our kids are already getting in the district," resident Barbara Bill said.

Bill has been a resident of Bristol Township for 40 years. She said her four children and her grandchildren have all gone through the township's public educational system.

According to Bristol Township School Board-member W. Earl Bruck, the Excel Academy is not the first charter school that attempted to join the township. In 2009, the school board denied the school's charter proposal.

Bruck said he is not sure what the decision will be for Excel in September.

"I think we need to carefully review their application and provide due diligence," Bruck said.

The issue with the current charter school model, according to Bruck, is the way it removes funds from the public school system. If the charter school is approved, the school district must pay for each child to go to the school. Proponents of the program, like Howard and Jones, said that this will actually save the school district money, but Bruck disagrees.

"We have over 6,000 students in nine schools. If (the Excel Academy) took some students from each class, it doesn't cut costs. We still have the same classes, the same amount of teachers, the same cost, but less funds," Bruck said.

The PA Charter school legislation also allows for non-residents of a township to apply and attend public charter schools. 

"The fundamentals and the goals are the same; the question is whether the funds are better suited elsewhere to do the same thing," Bruck said.

The September 12 charter hearing will be held immediately following the 7:30 p.m. Bristol Township School Board meeting at the Benjamin Franklin Freshmen Academy at 6403 Mill Creek Road. The hearing will be open to the public.